Volker Franke, professor of conflict management, recently obtained $2 million in funding for a project intended to confront social trauma caused by internal conflict in the Liberian community.
This project is a five-year collaboration between KSU and the United States Agency for International Development, a global development agency that leads humanitarian efforts and disaster assistance. Franke’s research will focus on the counties of Maryland, Grand Gedeh, and Nimba in Liberia, according to a KSU press release.
The project is titled “Hope for a Better Future: Building Collaborative Resilience for Youth in Liberia”. It was devised to help Liberia establish stability in its people. The project aims to help Liberia’s citizens trust themselves and the people around them.
One of Franke’s goals is to raise the citizens’ empathy and impulse control. Being surrounded by violence and conflict can have lasting effects on a person. By tracking the country’s social, economic and political solidarity, Franke’s initiative can observe their progression.
Franke is also partnered with other organizations based in Liberia such as the Liberia National Commission of Justice, Peace and Caritas. The Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation at the University of Liberia will collaborate to measure the effect of Franke’s initiative by collecting field data, according to a KSU press release.
According to the Carter Center, 40% of Liberia’s citizens suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the conflict they or their families have had to experience. Liberian youth are not given many educational opportunities, so their unemployment rate has risen considerably and they are forced to struggle alone with social trauma. As a result, conflict, violence and drug use levels escalate across the country.
The project’s completion could leave Liberia’s people feeling safer, more socially conscious and hopeful of their future. Liberians will be able to strengthen their individual and community support.
After growing up in Germany, Franke attended Syracuse University and received his Ph.D. in Political Science. He came to KSU in 2009 and contributed to the development of KSU’s first Ph.D. program in international conflict management.
KSU is one of the few universities in North America that offers a Ph.D. in international conflict management. This field gives students the opportunity to advance their training and prepare them for the challenges that coincide with managing international conflict and security.
International conflict management encourages students to enhance their methodological training and learn to address global conflict issues. It allows students to integrate theories and practices that will reinforce conflict management and peace-building development. It is a transformative program that enriches the individuals involved and the rest of the world.
The USAID is in charge of assisting foreign countries by reducing poverty, demonstrating democratic values and helping people make progress beyond their time of need. Their efforts work to combat any possible threats to a country’s development. More information regarding their humanitarian efforts can be found on their website.
